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At the event organised by the Polish Institute in Budapest, the Director stressed that the Central and Eastern European region is unique because, for historical and geographical reasons, it gained direct experience of the harsh realities of both the communist and Nazi dictatorships. He added that, just over a decade after the fall of communism, it demanded great audacity to open a memorial site and museum in Hungary which presented communism and Nazism alongside each other. The House of Terror Museum was created, he said, to “commemorate the victims in a dignified way, to courageously name the perpetrators, and to highlight as examples the heroes who paid with their lives for the stand they took against these two cruel dictatorships.” According to Mr. Fekete, one such hero was Polish cavalry captain Witold Pilecki.

In his welcome speech, Polish Ambassador Sebastian Kęciek listed Pilecki’s merits, which were always based on the triple foundation of God, country and family. Commenting on the Hungarian edition of Pilecki’s Report on the Auschwitz concentration camp, he said that it perfectly illustrated the workings of totalitarianism and the hatred inherent in it. Explaining the circumstances of the translation and editing of the book, Karol Biernacki – translator and editor of Pilecki’s Report, Honorary Consul and President of the Board of Trustees of the Wacław Felczak Foundation – said that the book’s significance lies in the fact that in Western Europe as well as Poland there are once again voices that seek to redefine both history and fundamental values.

Tadeusz Płużański, historian, journalist, publicist and President of the Łączka Foundation, presented the life of cavalry captain Witold Pilecki, “the Messenger of Truth” who fought in both world wars and organised Poland’s first underground movement, the Secret Polish Army. During a street raid in September 1940 he allowed himself to be captured by the Nazis and was sent to Auschwitz, from where he continuously wrote reports on what the Germans were doing. Three years later he escaped from the camp, took part in the Warsaw Uprising and continued resistance against the Soviet invaders. On 8 May 1947 the communists arrested him, imprisoned and tortured him, and sentenced him to death. Just over two months later he was brutally executed and buried in an unmarked grave.

According to the historian, the Polish communists’ only aim was to erase the memory of people like Pilecki, who “dedicated their lives to their country and to God”. He said that the House of Terror Museum is a perfect example of what could happen under communism to a patriot or a representative of the Church. In his presentation, he repeatedly quoted the Polish cavalry captain’s statement that “Compared to this, Auschwitz was child’s play”, intended to signify that the communist hell was far worse than the Auschwitz hell. While the Nazis sought to physically destroy people, the Soviets aimed to brainwash their vanquished foes and turn the peoples of the occupied territories into “Homo sovieticus”. He said that, in order to defeat the nation, the communists attacked the Church and continue to do so – a reference to the current attacks on Pope John Paul II.